Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-10


FIace-The Immigration Movement.
"Cap.aiD, you are getting things fxeC
in shape" remarked e GAZETTE scribe
upon entering the Law offices Of Captain
Thomas F. West, who has lately moved
from JaCksboro TO this city.
eyes; 1t takes some little time t
strsighten matters out, but l am abou
fixed up now, temporarily at least, and
what else is to be done can have done
at my leisure"
"WelI, what think you OF Fort Worth
and her prOspects?"
What do l think OF Fort Worth? ]
think l have given the best possible
evidences of my faith in the prosperity OF
the city by coming here to live. II did
not think that Fort Worth was destined
to grow and become great City | surely
would not have cast my lot with her PEG
ple-you know that"
"But you have not lost faith in West
Texa', have you. Captain?"
"Not ct ali; West Texas is destined to
be the greatest country on earth, and we
are only waiting the advent of railroads.
to develop her resources"
"And they are?"
"And they are almost anything you
have mind to name. We have the finest
and most productive Iauts in the world {;
we have millions OF tons Of splendid
building rock and coal, world WithcuG
end. With railroads penetrating tnar
section these resources will be brought
out into the light Of day; capital and i'm F.
migration will come in and the country
viii become rich and p0pulous. You see,
we have been, in manner, shut GU. from
the world; it has been incGnvenient to
reach that locality and m0neyed men, or
tourists, usually follow the railroads
When it IS so that people can 90 there
without traversing country On horse
Osck or by stage the tide Of emigration
will increase and the country VIII settle
up rapidly"
"Do you think the coal deposits are OF
such magnitude IS to warrant the invest
ment of large capital ?"
I" have only the Judgment Of experts
upon which 10 bas- an opinion, ana they
tell me that there are 60 fl er coal
fields II the country and the deposits are
prsc Ideally exhausted. l. takes time and
money TO develop enterprises OF this char
acter and we must expect that this work
will be slow and tedious, but the time mss
about arrived when this coal, especially,
Is q necessity and must be had"
chow does the lane in that section
compare with lands in the old states
in Virginia for example?"
"There is hardly any comparison. Ia
Virginia the lands are worn out; people
have been raising crops on the same farms
for more than century, and. to raise
anything at all, it is necessary to
spend as much for fertile alton as-it costs
TO make crop in Texas. [ think Viz
ginia the choicest spot N the world. II r
people are chivalrous and warm hearted;
her cities beautiful, and her rural districts,
with here RRd there ancestral castles
rising over the hilltops or glinting through
mystic trees, form a picture unsurpassed,
but her lands cannot compare with Texas
lands in point of produc iveness. It is q
pity to see these exec lIent people expend
so much labor for such small returns II
they would come to Texas they could all
get rich with less exertion 1han is re-
quired 10 make living at home"
Cant they be induced to sell out and
comt?"
III OIL w GACu IOu1u IL plODCI cAOItS
were made, ard Il an glad to see THE
GAZETTE advocating q policy which, l
ghiuk, will prove effective II low tour
list rate was adopted SO that at not too
much cost people could come to Texas
and see for themselves, the state would
soon fill up. You can not, by writing or
talking, dIsabuse the minds f people con-
corning Fexss. They must see for them
selves There are good people in Viz
glnie-and l may say verywhere-that
believe that TtXIs is wild border lard
where everybody carries sixshooter in
one hand and his life in the other. HoE-
est, intelligent people, who are Well-read
and up with the times on al else, have an
idea that in Texas We sie only few re-
moves from the theatrical cowboy. So
pronounced is this opinion that young
men who leave the old states and
cone to Texas are inspired by
sort of martial or romantic spirit,
or by sort of desperation that
scceDtustes their individuality and maKes
miniature heroes out of them in their own
eyes and in the estimation of those who
remain behind. Coming to Texas, to
them, is a sort OF filibustering expedition
where fate is met in open field, and in
hand 70 hand combat. Now, if these
people could see for themselves that We
are not barbarians MOI border despera-
does; If they could come and see our
schools, churches, theaters, street cars,
hospitals and the evidences OF advanced
civilization really existing, all this
cloud would pass away and
the mists Of prejudice would
disappear. OF course the time is coming
when the advantages and attractions of
Texas will be known, but we should pub
lish them now so that our own people
the best people in the world-csn come
from north and south, east and west. l
am sure that this excitement about secur-
ing immigration will result in much good
and that low rate will be adopted that
will bring thousands 20 the state. Keep